.:Remi’s Birthday Party:.

I realized that I never posted about Remi’s birthday party. Better late than never, right?

We celebrated Remi’s 3rd birthday with a casual, afternoon play date type party. I was trying to keep it stress free and on the less expensive side, but still do something fun for Remi that the other kids would like. So we had a Candy Couture party.

Rem is not a lover of the baked goods, so my original plan of decorating cupcakes went out the window. I thought it would be more fun to do something with candy, since she is definitely a lover of that.

I had the kids make candy necklaces for the activity. They had quite the spread to choose from!

The kids loved making – and eating their creations.

Candy = Happiness

The party crew.

Then of course, there were presents to be opened. The best part!

Rem was spoiled rotten by all of her little friends! The girls all enjoyed the new toys she got.

After presents, there was cupcakes. It’s a party, there has to be cake.

We had a great time, and are so glad we have so many good friends to share our special days with!

.:Harper–18 Months:.

Harper Mc Harps a lot.

Could this girl get any cuter? Or funnier? Or sassier?

Harper is becoming quite the independent gal. She is not afraid to let you know when she does not appreciate whatever decision you might have made for her. She loves to be down, walking and running, wherever we are. She doesn’t quite understand that if she would hold my hand, she would have a lot more of that freedom. She dislikes even being carried to be put into the car; she must walk to the car and climb in herself. Any form of restriction is unacceptable: car seat, stroller, shopping cart; she would like none of it, but unfortunately she gets quite a bit of it!

Harper loves to be outside. She loves running in the grass, playing with (and eating) chalk, running down the sidewalk – pretty much anything outside is good in her book. I always have to brace for a fight if I answer the front door and then we don’t end up going outside afterwards. Tantrum city! And speaking of tantrums, those are quite fun these days. They’ve gotten a little better lately, but I’ve been impressed with the magnitude of sound that can escape her tiny little body when she is unhappy. And totally amazed at how quickly she can be happy again; it’s like someone flipped a switch!

Harper loves her sisters so much. And they love her right back! These three are just peas in a pod. I love watching them all play together. I hope I can help them always love each other so much and want to spend time with each other. They are just little buddies, and it warms the cockles.

Little Harpie has turned into quite the affectionate little lady. She loves to give hugs and kisses, but especially hugs lately. There’s not much better than her wrapping her little arms around your neck, and “mmmmm”ing to herself as if she can’t get enough of the hug. I know it won’t last forever, so I’m trying to soak it up as much as I can while she still likes to do it!

Harper is starting to talk more and imitate more. I think that she probably says more than we realize. Some of my favorite words that she says are ‘shhhhh’, shoes, and cookie. A lot of words – dad, dog, duck – all sound the same. Harper will even tell us when she needs her diaper changed. She’ll point to her diaper and say, “Dipe.” I just love her little voice.

Harper is just a happy, shining, ball of light, and you can’t help but smile when she flashes her dimple at you! We love this girl to pieces!

At 18 months, Harper likes:

- laughing

- hugging

- kisses

- treats

- juice

- lambie (her lamb stuffed animal)

- pushing things around (stroller, chairs)

- climbing

- coloring

- reading books

- playing with Reece and Remi

- running

- chasing

- playing on tablets

- snacks

- baths

- being outside

- sidewalk chalk

- dancing

- peek-a-boo

- playing with her hair

- playing in the dvd's

- showing where her button is

- getting her bib out for dinner

At 18 months, Harper does not like:

- being in the stroller or shopping cart

- getting in her car seat

- having anything taken away from her

- diaper changes

- not getting her way (the nerve!)

- being made to hold hands (sometimes)

- being carried (in the parking lot, through the halls at church)
- drinking milk at any other time of day besides when I'm changing her diaper first thing in the morning

Sure love this beautiful girl!

.:Weigh In:.

I was reminded of this post of Dani’s, where she was laughing at the size difference in her two girls who are 1 1/2 years apart in age.

 

Here are the recent stats on Remi and Harper, who are 19 months apart.

 

Remi

Height: 38.78 inches (86%)

Weight: 33.51 lbs (76%)

 

 

Harper

Height: 32 inches (63%)

Weight: 20.99 lbs (8%)

 

 

Their heights aren’t that big of a difference – percentile wise – but they definitely have quite the weight difference!

.:Easter:.

Our Easter festivities this year included lots of fun…and lots of goodies!

We kicked off our Easter weekend by going to a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. A gal in our neighborhood organized it and gather up supplies and donations, and opened it up to anyone who wanted to come. The girls were super excited to go hunt for eggs!

A lot of their little friends were there, so they had fun searching and playing with them.

The fun didn’t end there! We got together with Sam and Nikki to do a little egg hunt with their cousins. We just hid eggs around our house and front yard, and the kiddos had a fun time getting even more candy and treats! Some of the eggs had some coins in them, so the girls were excited to put the money in their piggy banks.

After all of the eggs were found, we went out for a quick dinner and then headed back home to dye Easter eggs. I didn’t boil very many because I didn’t really think the kids would get too into it, but I was wrong! The kids were loving it and I wish we would have had more. They were proud of their eggs!

Yes, this is Remi sipping on the Easter egg dye. Is anyone surprised?

Of course the Easter bunny came to visit during the nite, and the girls were spoiled with more treats and a few little gifts.

There were more eggs to be found, and then it was time to get ready for church. The girls looked pretty darn beautiful in their new dresses from Gramzee and Grandpa Paul!

After church, we loaded up our stuff – which included new sunglasses from the Easter bunny, and headed out to Grantsville for the rest of the day.

We spent the day at Ken and Kerri’s house, and the kids were all treated to yet another Easter egg hunt!

We had a wonderful couple of days, celebrating with our family and friends, but are also so grateful to reflect on the true meaning of Easter and all that our Savior has done for us. I feel so blessed to have the knowledge of this gospel and to be able to raise our kids in it.

.:Everett’s Sealing:.

In March, I had the chance to travel to Oregon so that I could be there while my sweet nephew, Everett, was sealed to my sister and brother in law. They have been on quite the journey to get Everett to them, and while it certainly hasn’t been easy, I think that we have all been blessed through the experience. Adoption is such a beautiful gift, and it still makes me tear up whenever I think about it.

Sam and I flew up to Oregon solo – no kids! It was crazy! And maybe a bit heavenly.

We spent the first couple of days hanging with family, and loving on these two newest nephews to the family.

Everett

Beckett

While I definitely missed having Josh and the girls with me, it was also sort of nice to really be able to focus on my nieces and nephews and get to know them a little bit better without having my kids, you know, needing me.

My grandparents were up from Arizona, and it was so so good to see them on this trip! It doesn’t happen very often, and I just love being able to spend time with them.

My grandpa is a sealer in the Mesa temple, and he has sealed all of us kids when we were married. He was also the one who got to seal Everett to Alli and Nic. So special, and such a blessing to our family! We got to the temple Saturday morning, and got to see Everett for a few minutes before we headed back into the sealing room.

Medford Temple

Once we were all situated in the sealing room, Alli and Nic came in. My grandpa spoke to them for awhile, and it was just wonderful to listen to. He pointed out some things about what he would say during the sealing that were important for us all to listen to. While we were in there, Everett was not impressed with being left with the matron and no one that he really knew. Although he was crying, my sister and I were saying how neat it was to hear a baby in the temple. It is typically such a quiet  and reverent place (which is appropriate) but it was so fun to hear a baby in there; really makes you think about your eternal families!

Everett was able to be calmed down by Alli and Nic for a few minutes before the sealing began. Once Everett was in there with his parents, he was perfect as could be. Totally quiet, totally still, just gazing at the chandelier in the celestial room. It was so beautiful and special and we were all bawling. It was seriously a special experience for our family, and I’m so glad that I got to be there. Alli and Nic are wonderful parents and I’m so grateful they have Everett!

Our family has always been close, and I’m so blessed to have amazing siblings. I sure love these people a lot!

And of course, love our parents a ton, too! They have set such a great example for all of our family, and keep us all close. Best family ever!

After the sealing, we went to eat with everyone who was there.

Sisters, sisters…never were there such devoted sisters!

We spent our last evening there playing Five Crowns and laughing. Hard. A lot.

So grateful and blessed to be part of this wonderful eternal family!